Top 10 books of 2015

It’s that time of the year again! I deliberately kept putting this off, because what if I read something amazing that NEEDED to be on this list? Basically I wanted to do this last week but I had yet to read The Knife of Never Letting Go and had a feeling it would be on this list.

This list is not really in any order, because choosing is hard. Without further ado, my top 10!

Made You Up by Francesca Zappia

I will continue throwing this book at everyone next year, because it’s beautiful and perfect and amazing and I love it so much. I will definitely reread it soon. If you want a more detailed reason as to why I love this book so much, please read my review or more like my fangirl rantings.

Winter by Marissa Meyer

A.k.a. the perfect ending to this wonderful series. Definitely one of my favourite endings to a series. Everything came to a close, it was a perfect combination of action, humor and romance… AND SOON STARS ABOVE WILL BE OUT. Read my review here or take a look at my feels in gifs (warning: major spoilers in that one!).

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

I knew I was going to love this book, but I don’t love this book. I don’t even know what my feelings for it are. Just like with Fangirl, as soon as I finished it I wanted to reread it right away. I was so giddy on feels afterwards for days. If you haven’t read this yet, what are you waiting for?! Read my review here.

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

Why have I waited this long to read this? I need to go back in time and throw this book at me. I have the sequel waiting for me, but Aentee told me (more like warned haha) that while The Knife is like a stab through the heart, The Ask and the Answer only gets worse, so I’m too scared haha. I’ll soon review it!

The Last Ever After by Soman Chainani

Another great ending to a great series. I love The School for Good and Evil trilogy and boy this last book did not disappoint. The character development Agatha and Sophie went through is beautiful. Scratch that, the entire book is beautiful. Read my review here.

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

I can’t believe I only read this this year! (to be fair, it was at the beginning of the year) This is still hands down my favourite book in the series. It’s such a rollercoaster of emotions. It hurts just thinking about it. SARAH J. MAAS THIS WAS NOT OKAY. Read my review here.

The Bane Chronicles by Cassandra Clare

Apparently I read this this year! Boy, does time fly. I thought it was last year. I didn’t love all the stories equally, but they all amused me greatly (I mean, it’s Magnus Bane, how can stories about him not amuse me?). I loved finding out more about Magnus and the people surrounding him. And you know, MALEC’S FIRST DATE. Also I really want more short stories about Magnus, Catharina and Ragnor. I want an entire book about them. Perfect Warlock Squad. Read my review here.

I Am Princess X by Cherie Priest

I just couldn’t stop reading this one. I had to put it down at some point, because I really needed my sleep, but I didn’t want to. The mystery is so good and the friendships in this book are adorable. Also it’s GORGEOUS. Because comic pages. Yes please. Read my review here.

Magnus Chase and the Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan

While I was a bit disappointed, I still really loved it! How can I not? It’s Rick Riordan after all. I love everything he writes (well, everything I have read so far. I don’t know about his grocery shopping list. I’ll let you know once I’ve gotten my hands on that). Though I have to admit I’m more excited for The Hidden Oracle than The Hammer of Thor (guys I automatically spelled Thorne. Can you tell I love Thorne), but that’s mainly because PERCY. And I absolutely adore Apollo. Read my review here

All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

I don’t even want to talk about this book that ripped my heart out, stomped on it, ripped it apart and just threw it away somewhere.

It’s beautiful read it.

Read my review here- and this is when I find out that I never reviewed it. SEE THIS IS HOW MUCH THAT BOOK BROKE ME

SPECIAL SHOUT OUT

The illustrated Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. The story is not new to me of course, but the illustrations are breathtaking. I still need to do a post on it, but expect it soon! (hopefully)

Are any of these books in your top 10? What are your favourite books of the year? Let me know in the comments!

Review: The Last Ever After by Soman Chainani

Genre: Middle grade (though I’ve seen it classified as ya a few times as well), fantasy, fairy tales
Series: The School for Good and Evil #3
Goodreads rating: 4.54
My rating: ★★★★★

 

Warning: Spoilers for the first two books

In the epic conclusion to Soman Chainani’s New York Times bestselling series, The School for Good and Evil, everything old is new again as Sophie and Agatha fight the past as well as the present to find the perfect end to their story.

As A World Without Princes closed, the end was written and former best friends Sophie and Agatha went their separate ways. Agatha was whisked back to Gavaldon with Tedros and Sophie stayed behind with the beautiful young School Master.

But as they settle into their new lives, their story begs to be re-written, and this time, theirs isn’t the only one. With the girls apart, Evil has taken over and the villains of the past have come back to change their tales and turn the world of Good and Evil upside down.

Me once I finished it. Also a few times during the book. IT’S SO BEAUTIFUL AND ALL THE FEELS AND THANK YOU SOMAN FOR SUCH A PERFECT CONCLUSION TO THIS WONDERFUL TRILOGY

Two years ago I noticed The School for Good and Evil at the bookstore. The cover drew me in, the blurb told me ‘BUY THIS NOW’. Now, two years later, one of my favourite trilogies has ended.

I have to admit that while I loved A World Without Princes (the second book), it wasn’t as good as The School for Good and Evil. I’m so happy that The Last Ever After was though, maybe even better.

I don’t even know how to describe my feelings towards this book. It was PERFECT. I just…

Except I will be less aggressive while I push the book into your hands and whisper ‘read it read it read it’ into your ear

I especially loved how flawed Tedros was in this book. He really annoyed me at times, but I loved it, because it showed that he’s a three-dimensional character instead of a perfect prince. YAY.

Agatha was just as lovable as in the first two books. No one hurt my baby *looking at you Tedros and Sophie*. I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but her character development in this book is beautiful (her entire character development through out the trilogy is). Her relationship with Sophie is even more complicated in this one than in the previous two. Spoiler: I loved that the entire war was dependent on their friendship, on their love for each other. Not romantic love, no, friendship. YES

What to say about Sophie without giving too much away? If you read the previous two books (which I hope you have otherwise there are quite a few spoilers for you in this review) you know she kissed the Schoolmaster to live, giving Evil the chance to wipe out Good. This also means she has to  embrace her inner Evil, though she still tries to be Good. Her struggle is interesting to read, more so than in the previous two books, as while in the first two books everyone told her she was Evil, in this one she acknowledges herself that she is.

I also loved that while there’s a clear Evil and Good, there are still areas of grey. Not every hero is 100% Good, nor are the villains 100% evil. Spoiler: They help each other and know that one side cannot exist without the other. It’s not so much a war between Good and Evil as a war against the Schoolmaster himself.

Then there are the minor characters. HORT HORT HORT. I love Hort (as you may be able to tell haha). I already loved him from the beginning and my baby has grown so much since then. He’s matured a lot and stands up for himself (GO HORT). Also the Coven. I absolutely adore them.

We are also introduced to some famous fairy tale characters, except they’re not exactly how you remember them… I especially loved Cinderella and the twist that was put on her story. It’s quite simple, but not something I had thought of!

Okay, so let’s make a list of all the things I liked, so that I can organise my thoughts a bit:

• The main three characters all had their moments of brilliance and annoying the shit out of me, thus showing they were realistic, flawed human beings. Also, they made me cry. But Agatha and Sophie always make me cry
• THE PLOT TWISTS LIKE HOLY SHIT.

This gif is kind of hypnotising me while I write the rest of this list…

• The twists on certain fairy tales (besides Cinderella there’s another one that I don’t really see as a fairy tale, but I won’t tell you which one as it can be a bit of a spoiler)
• The character development, mostly of the three main characters, but also Hort
• Finding out more about the Woods
• THE FINAL EPIC WAR LIKE YES
• ALL THE FEELS
• Agatha and Tedros’ relationship was realistic and beautiful and cute and-

• Of course the writing style. I loved the writing style
• The ending. IT WAS PERFECT.

And oh so much more that 1) I can’t put into words and 2) I won’t tell you because SPOILERS. If you’re reading this and haven’t read the book yet, go read it now. If you’re reading this and haven’t read the entire trilogy yet, GO DO IT NOW. And sorry for the spoilers, but I did warn you so I guess you don’t mind?

HAVE YOU READ THIS BEAUTIFUL CONCLUSION YET. IF YOU HAVEN’T YET GO DO SO NOW. IT’S BRILLIANT AND BEAUTIFUL AND HEARTWARMING AND THERE WILL BE TEARS AND LAUGHS AND SQUEALS 100% RECOMMEND.